Practice Amps - are any really actually good? (Updated with THR-AS...)

ICBM

digitalscream said:

I'm not so sure the Mustang is a particularly good option...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/02/27/fender_smart_guitar_amp_dumb_security/

That's ludicrous. Why would they do that? Every piece of Bluetooth equipment I've ever come across uses pairing for security.

57Deluxe

I use my Session Rockette 30 for a lot of teaching now as takes 2 inputs with ease. Not only that, it allows students to hear a great set of tones from their mixed bag of guitars without too much volume issues.

Even though I have had this amp from 1986 and used it a lot, it never ceases to amaze me just how good it sounds compared to Tube amps. I have students with those THR amps and small Vox equiv and Blackstar 1w jobbies and they are by contrast appalling...

clarkefan

ICBM said:

Interesting - I've got a Mini5 Rhythm as well, and a friend has the THR10 (the original beige one). I much prefer the THR's clean sound - in fact, I think it's maybe the best clean tone I've heard from a 'hi-fi speaker' amp - but at anything more than the light edge-of-breakup setting it's dreadful and the Vox wipes the floor with it. The Vox sounds really good, both for mild crunch (the AC15 setting) and heavier overdrive (the Brit 80s setting) although it does get a bit buzzy above that.

I've been looking after a mate's Vox Mini5 Rhythm for a while and you're right about the dirt sounds.  I tried it cos it was there and was impressed.  Stuck an SD-1 in front of it for fun and was more impressed. With the built in basic click it's great fun for cheap and for something so small.

Voxman

If you want a valve practice amp you could do a lot worse than a Laney Cub. Comes in a range of wattage, speaker and valve types and they are all very good.  I went for the Cub12R, EL84s 15w, that is more British crunch, 1x12, reverb, 1w and 15w inputs, 8/16 ohm extn cab out, fx loop, full eq plus additional tone, built in tilt stand (The 10 is lower spec but has 6v6 valves so is more Fendery). Great sounding on its own but takes pedals really well too. Plus it's even loud enough for club gigs. 

JD50

JezWynd said:

The Fender Frontman 25 was a nice sounding little combo. Lovely Fender cleans and pedals sounded good. Internet wisdom said the distortion channel was crap but I liked it. Internet wisdom also said the speaker should be replaced - so I did; took out the Ragin Cajun someone had fitted and reinstalled the original - much better (as a practise amp). You could probably find one easily enough, they were very common at one time.

I had one of these as a back up/home amp for years. I may be wrong but dont they  have a spring reverb?
I also really.liked the distortion, kinda garage rock to my ears, I'd often thought of ripping out the circuit somehow and sticking it In pedal if that was at all possible.

Dominic

Helix.....today's Top Tech......tomorrow's practice amp

dazzajl

To throw one more idea into the hat, that’s a good half way house 

The Orange Crush 35RT

Not a valve amp but not digital either. A nice warm clean from a decent 10” speaker and a channel for that fuzzy Orange dirt sound too. Not much idea if it takes pedals well though, never actually tried 

Dominic

One of those funny old Acoustic guitar things is probably quite good ....will certainly make you a better player

slacker

ZVex Nano, it's expensive, needs a cab and has limited eq options. However it's valve and sounds lovely. My other practive amp is a Matchless Lightning. I'm not joking. 

thumpingrug

I have a THR and often put my Pod HD500 through it without any issue

stickyfiddle

Thanks for all comments. 

Not it interested in small valve amps or cheapie solid states or anything that is a  “one sound” type solution. if I want a small real amp I’d just get a Lane VC15 as I know they’re exactly what I like. FWIW one of those would actually be great except for lacking a headphone option.

And if Line 6 did a small practice combo with a Helix brain I’d have already bought one. 

Best st best seems to be to take a pedal or 2 to my local and try a THR

stickyfiddle

And @Dominic I do play way more acoustic than electric already. But it’s a different instrument and I want to play electric more than I currently do

Matt_McG

It's not true that Yamaha THRs don't take dirt pedals well. I use mine with a wide range of dirt pedals and they sound great. I even get some pretty convincing breakup type tones when I push the 'clean' preset with low gain drive pedals or boost.

There's a good video with Philip Sayce nailing a THR with pedals, and it sounds excellent.



I'd say it's the best small clean solid-state amp I've tried, and I've tried a lot. And it's a really effective audio interface, too, so I leave it plugged into my laptop all the time, and can pick up and practice or record at a whim.

Downsides, on the standard THR10, the blackface type Clean preset, and the AC style Crunch preset, are both excellent. But the higher gain and plexi type tones aren't great. They are passable, but it's not the strong point on the standard one. I think the 10C or 10X is different. I've heard better gain-y sounds from the Marshall Code and Line6 alternatives.

Also, while it has built in effects (and I think the reverb and delay algorithms are both pretty good), you are somewhat limited in how you can combine them.

stickyfiddle

Well today I tried a THR10C. I am now the proud owner of a THR10C. It’s reallly really impressive, and takes pedals great (Rat and Klone so far,but no reason for concern if it handles both of those nicely). 

I’m seriously impressed - should’ve bought one years ago.

munckee

Nice result happy new amp day .  Is the C the black one with classic amp settings?  I bought the 5 for price at the time, had I known how much I liked them I would have got the black THR10 for the more vintage sounds and ability to play a bass through it.  Its well worth using the software, the additional sounds are great and if you can be bothered to set yourself up on steinberg you can record stuff okay if you don't already have recording software.

Blueingreen

One minor quibble with theTHR10C.  Yamaha says it's based not so much on the actual sounds of the amps it models but what players *think* the amps sound like.  Their argument is that many players would struggle to get those amps sounding good.

End result is the THR10C is much more forgiving than a "real" amp.  Which is absolutely fine if your goal is to sound great in your living room.  If you're using it to practice stuff you hope to use on a gig  be aware that you may be in for a shock at how different stuff sounds on a louder, less forgiving amp. Obviously if you are familiar with your gigging gear you'll be fine, but I prepared for an audition after a long lay off on the THR10 and got a shock at how much stuff that was sounding great at home didn't in the rehearsal room through a bigger amp.

ICBM

I must try the 10C. The bass and maybe the acoustic settings would be useful for me, although on the ordinary 10 I thought the Flat setting was better with an acoustic.

stickyfiddle

Blueingreen said:

One minor quibble with theTHR10C.  Yamaha says it's based not so much on the actual sounds of the amps it models but what players *think* the amps sound like.  Their argument is that many players would struggle to get those amps sounding good.

End result is the THR10C is much more forgiving than a "real" amp.  Which is absolutely fine if your goal is to sound great in your living room.  If you're using it to practice stuff you hope to use on a gig  be aware that you may be in for a shock at how different stuff sounds on a louder, less forgiving amp. Obviously if you are familiar with your gigging gear you'll be fine, but I prepared for an audition after a long lay off on the THR10 and got a shock at how much stuff that was sounding great at home didn't in the rehearsal room through a bigger amp.

Yeah, I think that's a reasonable comment. It's a much "easier" amp than my Badcat (which is *amazing* when you're on it, but has me cursing my own playing if I have an off-day). It's quite odd to try and dial in a "Fender Deluxe" or anything Vox flavoured with a TMB tonestack though. I need to read a bit to understand how the tonestacks compare to real life ones. I assume Mids in the middle will be roughly "home" but I need to confirm.

Incidentally, the "guitar shop" here is a Virgin Megastore, and the assistant plugged me in with a US Standard Strat (last of the old stock of the outgoing mode I guess) and cranked it. I got a few looks from people shopping for t-shirts and iPhone cases, but it sounded great instantly. *Totally* the opposite of a soundproof booth in a small guitar shop!

@ICBM I didn't actually try the regular THR10 as they only had the 5 and the 10X, neither of which interest me. Ideally I'd have AB'd them, but I was so impressed with this I didn't care. That said, I'm aware we have fairly opposing tastes in amps so YMMV and then some!

In other news, the neck on the Strat I tried was *brilliant* and now I want to change the neck on my own strat again... Might have to give Musikraft/MJT a buzz.

ICBM

stickyfiddle said:

It's quite odd to try and dial in a "Fender Deluxe" or anything Vox flavoured with a TMB tonestack though. I need to read a bit to understand how the tonestacks compare to real life ones. I assume Mids in the middle will be roughly "home" but I need to confirm.

Ah! Well if you mean a Deluxe Reverb, they do have a TMB tone stack... it's just that the mid is fixed at about 7. An AC30 Top Boost does too, but it's odder - the treble works as normal, but mid is up full until the bass control gets up to about 3 o'clock, then it quickly cuts the mids to zero as the bass goes to full up.

stickyfiddle

ICBM said:

stickyfiddle said:

It's quite odd to try and dial in a "Fender Deluxe" or anything Vox flavoured with a TMB tonestack though. I need to read a bit to understand how the tonestacks compare to real life ones. I assume Mids in the middle will be roughly "home" but I need to confirm.

Ah! Well if you mean a Deluxe Reverb, they do have a TMB tone stack... it's just that the mid is fixed at about 7. An AC30 Top Boost does too, but it's odder - the treble works as normal, but mid is up full until the bass control gets up to about 3 o'clock, then it quickly cuts the mids to zero as the bass goes to full up.

Ok, that's news to me. All I know is neither has a mids knob! I'll report more when I've had a more detailed play beyond the standard "turning knobs and having fun with the new toy" thing that has inevitably happened this evening